Job Opening: Construction Worker Organizer

CTUL seeks to hire an organizer to develop the leadership of Construction workers in the Twin Cities metro area. This position will require the ability to work very independently. Please submit resume and cover letter by April 6th. Click here for more information.

December 18, 2018

4:00pm Las Posadas March down Lake Street in Uptown – Starting place to be announced soon!

6:00pm Celebration at CTUL (3715 Chicago Ave)

CTUL members who work in construction have been working with national and local experts to create a new program that will work to end labor trafficking and other serious violations of workers’ rights in construction. Join CTUL for a Las Posadas march as part of our ongoing campaign calling on construction Developers to work with Building Dignity and Respect Standards Council to end labor trafficking, wage theft, and other serious abuses in the construction industry.

Join us December 18, 2018 at 3:00pm at the CTUL office to carpool, or 4:00pm for the march 1800 W Lake St, followed by a celebration at CTUL (3715 Chicago Ave, Minneapolis) at 6:00pm. Click here to RSVP.

We Won $15!

Today we celebrate our victory on passing $15 minimum wage in the City of Saint Paul. This victory was the result of the continued efforts of compassionate, brave, and relentless low wage workers, who believe a better world is at the reach of our hands.

All workers deserve to take care of their needs and enjoy time with their families and the important people in their lives, and because of that, they deserve a living wage. CTUL members and fast-food workers launched this fight in the Twin Cities four years ago, and have been on the front lines taking risks and building power by striking, speak their truth, organizing their co-workers, participating in city committees, and everything in-between to set a new standard in Saint Paul. Every day we are told that we can’t change the world, we are told that we don’t hold power and we can’t win, but today is a different day because through our organizing we made $15 reality!

We are taking this momentum and pushing for more to make St. Paul’s minimum wage the strongest it can be. We commit to spreading through the city to educate workers on their newly won rights and work with the city to develop strong enforcement mechanisms. We also find it troubling that City Council passed a last-minute corporate giveaway by allowing franchises to be classified as small businesses, putting many workers and primarily workers of color on a slow track to $15.

Other cities who have passed $15 like Seattle and Minneapolis classify franchised businesses as large businesses because of the many benefits that they receive from the corporate franchisor that small businesses can’t rely on. Workers deserve to be heard regarding their working conditions at franchises and now that we won $15 we know we can win more. We are committed to working with the City of Saint Paul beginning in January 2019 to ensure the $15 minimum wage has the greatest impact possible.

The workers of Saint Paul achieved a historic victory, and we want to make sure we mention that the ordinance is not exactly what we demanded. However, it is a major win for worker’s rights, and we will continue to build power to make sure we are one step closer to make Saint Paul a more equitable place to live and work. Together, the workers of the Twin Cities decide our future!

8TH ANNUAL CTUL GALA: “DON’T MOURN, ORGANIZE!”

As Joe Hill, an organizer for workers’ rights, famously put it, “Don’t mourn, organize!” 2018 has been a year of powerful resistance at CTUL, and we have taken Joe Hill’s words to heart. In the face of the Trump administration’s politics of xenophobia and fear, we have pushed onward, organizing low-wage immigrant workers and workers of color for economic and racial justice in the Twin Cities. Channeling our outrage into collective action, we have taken our organizing to the next level to fight back and create our own visions. In the second year of the Raise Worker Voice Campaign, we have pushed to expand our organizing capacity; built the leaders, organizers, and community networks that will take us to our next victories; won back hundreds of thousands of dollars in stolen wages; and rallied in the streets to protest corporate exploitation of workers and control over politics. At our gala on September 14th, we will celebrate a year of hard work, resource our next wins, and dance! We would love to see you there! Click here to register now.

CTUL PANCAKE BRUNCH

Join us for pancakes, solidarity and fun on Sunday, March 11. Hear exciting updates on the many victories that were won over the past year through deep leadership development with low-wage workers in the Twin Cities metro area. This Pancake Brunch will launch us into the second year of our Raise Worker Voice Campaign, with the goal of raising $1.65 million in two years to take our organizing to the next level. Click here to buy your ticket, and we will see you there!

This morning, Feb. 8, at 9am there was a hearing in the ongoing corporate lawsuit against the City of Minneapolis regarding the $15 ordinance. Destinee Bingham, a Minneapolis Burger King employee and leader with CTUL who has been organizing for better wages and working conditions, shared the frustration that working people are feeling knowing that corporate lobbyists are working to stop the $15 min wage they fought so hard to win – “It’s disgusting that corporations can afford to raise $53 million dollars for partying and entertaining their rich friends over the last couple of weeks alone during the Super Bowl, but claim that they can’t afford to pay living wages for their workers.”